Once a Hero
by ThePenNerd
Summary: Annabeth's death left Percy broken and with a disgust for hero life. Now living in the mortal world as Tony Stark, he's quickly realizing that the life of a hero isn't easy to leave behind. But with him now living with five unsuspecting teammates, how much longer can he keep his past hidden away? Tony/Percy x Steve
1. Chapter 1

**This fanfiction contains spoilers from the book 'Blood of Olympus' and the movie 'Avengers: Age of Ultron'. However, it not all events in this fanfiction are true, and may have been altered to fit this crossover.**

 **There will be mild swearing, a homosexual relationship (Steve x Tony/Percy) and mild character death.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

 _It wasn't dark, like you would think a nightmare would be. The world was glowing bright oranges and reds. The air swirled with the image of flames, the tendrils reached up towards the sky, twisting and curling in an alien dance. The heat released from the glowing lights was suffocating; blistering._

 _The flames source was skeletal bodies, twisting in agony. Rolling, falling, flailing and screaming in an inhuman mixture of pain and anger. The reached up with flame scorched hands, black with soot, to the unforgiving sky. They groped at the charred earth in search of something, anything, to take out their anger and pain on._

 _Their inhuman wails were jumbled, sounds indistinct at their pitch. But then the sounds began to drop, instead turning to a low and dwindling whine. Garbled words passed through their teeth, becoming more distinct as the time drew on._

Why _, They hissed with words laced in pain._ Why did we deserve to die. _Their hands reached out, bone hands turning into jagged claws as they scraped the earth; pulling themselves forward with ear-splitting scraping sounds. They became more energized, their movements gaining ferocity and momentum as they clawed themselves toward their target._

Why couldn't we live! _They opened their jaws in a terrifying scream, flames casting eerie shadows on their scorched forms._ Why did you let us die! Why! Why!

 _The air was growing hotter by the second, the world drawing in on itself. It was close. Too close. Everything was tight, too dense._

No, no stop! _Too close, too much. He couldn't breathe. Where was the air? Why couldn't he breath!_ Stop it! Stop it, stop it, stop it!

(**)

Dark brown eyes flashed open,a panicked gasp escaping lips parted mid-scream. Tony bolted upright, feeling his bed sheets tangling around him tighter and tighter as his body thrashed. It was too much, too constricting. Tony's hands reached out, gripping the fabric in an attempt to get it off of him. In his panicked frenzy he ended up ripping the sheets off of himself, body twisting and turning on his bed. He was too close to the edge and ended up slipping and falling on the hard ground with a _thud_ that made him freeze.

 _Mr. Stark?_

The voice that spoke was concerned, and yet seemed to come from nowhere. There was no other person in the room, but the man on the floor didn't seem to upset or worried about that. He even seemed to relax as the British sounding AI spoke. His body -once tense- seemed to almost melt into the ripped silk sheets that he lay tangled in.

"Jarvis," Tony said, his voice breaking with a sob. Only know did he realize that there were tears streaming down his cheek, weaving cold trails on his flushed skin. He pushed himself up in a sitting position, palms slick with sweat. Sweat dripped from his forehead as well, making his dark hair glisten where it beaded at his hairline. The front and back of his nightshirt was dampened from his exertion, sticking to his scarred back and chest.

His bedroom was dark. Corners enveloped in the suffocating inky darkness. With a shaky breath, Tony used the bed to push himself to his feet as he looked around. "Open the windows," He ordered Jarvis. The AI did as instructed and the windows across the room -which had been keeping it dark- slowly changed it's opaqueness and let the light outside stream in.

The sky was still dark; there was no sun to let in natural golden beams. But the city that never sleeps, was never dark either. Artificial lights of amber, red, and white hues easily illuminated his room.

Still uneasy from his nightmare, Tony Stark stumbled across the room and leaned against the panes. Resting his forehead against the cool glass, he let out a sigh. The glass fogged as the moisture from his breath condensed against it. "Are you alright, sir?" Jarvis asked, voice echoing in the dark and empty room.

"Yeah," Tony said with a breathless and almost hysterical laugh. "Yeah, I'm totally fine. Just been having the same _fucking_ nightmare every night for nearly ten years now, but other than that I'm totally fine." He sighed and closed his eyes. Knees weak, he sank to the carpeted floor.

"I'm tired, Jarvis. I'm tired of these nightmares. I'm tired of waking up in the middle of the night. I'm tired of all this guilt, and sadness." Tony ran a hand over his face, feeling his hands grow wet from the tears that had dampened his cheeks. He took a deep breath and opened his eyes. "Anyway, I'm fine. Whatever."

Tony got to his feet and dusted off his pajama knees. "Anyways, I might as well get some work down now that I'm up." Using his palms, he wiped away any remnants of his tears and made his way to the door. Stumbling at the beginning, but getting his feet as he continued towards the door.

As the door slid open, he poked his head around the corner to make sure that no one else was up. The lights were either off entirely, or dimmed so that certain aspects of the Avengers living space was still illuminated. It had been his idea, since he was tired of hearing Thor trip over air when he was sneaking towards the kitchen for snacks in the middle of the night.

He quietly walked down the hall, turning the corner to overlook the Avengers living space through the lines in the wall. The living space was usually filled with people in the evening, due to his often lavish parties. They were attempts at driving himself into a drunken stupor till he was pretty much dead on his feet. These attempts would result in him being able to have a dreamless sleep. But now it was eerily quiet.

The glass walls allowed light to stream in from the city; casting eerie shadows against the furniture and other objects in the room. They stretched along the floor and to his eyes; still affected by his dream, they seemed to twist and turn in an alien dance.

Tony backed away, rubbing his eyes furiously until he seemed to enter a strange dimension of pulsating colors when he drew his hands away. Warily approaching the wall again, he carefully peaked back into the room. There. No moving shadows. No moving skeletons coming to claw their way towards him either. Letting out a sigh, he drew his hand over the keypad by the doorway in an upwards motion. The lights came on, glaring with harsh yellow light as they illuminated the expansive room.

Blinking, Tony made his way down the stairs with one hand on the rail and the other in his pajama pants pocket. Who made pajama pants with pockets? What exactly could you keep in there, a screwdriver?

Tony made a beeline for where the drinks were stored, stepping behind the counter carefully as he reached for the glasses. He winced at the sound they made as their surfaces made contact. It was a dainty sound and in no way would be able to awaken the sound sleepers upstairs. Heh. Sound sleepers. Good thing Tony had made their rooms with that thought in mind. If it wasn't for the soundproof walls between their rooms, no one would get any sleep.

Opening the mini fridge with his foot, Tony looked around curiously. It was true that the Avengers suffered from PTSD, and that their sleep wasn't always a soundless one. It wasn't uncommon for him to have company most nights, but tonight he was alone. Oh, those lucky ducks.

Without examining the bottle he had chosen at random, Tony used the bottle opener to pop the lid before pouring himself a good portion of it into his glass. The amber liquid ran between the two containers before he stopped the flow and placed the bottle on the counter.

"Isn't it a bit early for drinking?"

His eyes flashed upwards -body tense- only to relax a moment later as he recognized Pepper. "You're early." He commented, ignoring her question about his drinking habits. "Why?"

Pepper, in full business attire, made her way over to him. Her eyes darted to look at his glass and he tried to ignore the way her eyes filled with knowing. "Well, let's just say a certain AI wanted to make sure everything was alright."

Tony pouted, pretending to be hurt as he looked up at the ceiling. "Aw, Jarvis come on. I'm a big boy now! I don't need someone to check under my bed for monsters!"

"Yes, sir." The British voice answered, tinted with an almost human and teasing tone.

Tony looked back over to Pepper. "Honest, I'm fine. You don't have to keep showing up whenever I need a drink." He raised his glass teasingly and moved the glass from side to side so that the liquid almost sloshed over the side. He raised the glass to his lips and thoughtfully sipped.

Pepper looked doubtful. She had heard him say he was fine a thousand times, and yet she always asked a thousand times anyway. "Tony, we both know monsters don't hide under beds." She began. "So are you sure those monsters aren't-" She cut herself off at the sour look Tony gave her.

Pepper looked at the wall, gaze thoughtful; as though she were contemplating something she wanted to say, which had Tony uneasy. Whenever she had that look, he knew she was planning on making him do something."It's that time of year." She said, changing the subject. "I know what you usually do,"She gestured to his glass of alcohol. "And Tony I don't think you should. This has been going on for too long. I understand she meant a lot to you, but getting drunk on her birthday and celebrating it locked in your room wont bring her back."

"I know that." Tony snapped. "But I'm not gonna stop. Speaking of her birthday though, what exactly do you get for your deceased girlfriend?" His eyes were narrowed as he looked at her, warning her that his teasing tone was not him being in a teasing mood. He wasn't drunk enough for that yet. "For some reason, no one seems to have an answer. Wonder why."

Pepper sighed. "Tony, please. You _must_ be drunk right now with the nonsense your talking. And I'm concerned about you."

Tony took a bigger swig from his drink, downing almost half the glass. "Well, don't be. I'm doing fine. I just need to finish this and find something to do today. Hey, we don't have any more save-the-world missions now, do we?" He headed over to one of the barstools and plopped down, gesturing to the one next to him as an invitation for her to join him.

Pepper sighed and crossed her arms over her chest, frowning for a second before taking the offered seat. "No, Tony. People have been pretty quiet ever since an intelligent metal robot tried to destroy the world." Tony frowned and mumbled into his glass as he took another sip. "I was trying to do something good, does anyone remember that little fact?"

"I have something you could do." She said casually, looking at the far wall like it was oh-so-interesting." She looked at him from the corner of her eye. "Two things, actually.

"One, you could stay here and answer fan mail. Happy's been upset with how full the storage room is getting. Two," She took a breath. "You could go to camp and be Percy for a day. Go to that group therapy thing. Get help. Because Tony," She sighed. "You need help."

Tony let out a bitter laugh at that, lowering the glass as alcohol dripped from the corner of his mouth. Wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, he put the glass back on the counter. He laughed for a few seconds more before meeting her gaze. She was glaring at him, putting on her most menacing and I'm-not-going-take-shit look.

"Oh," He said meekly. "Wow cousin, you're not kidding." He sighed and ran a hand over his face. "Fine!" He snapped, throwing his hands in the air in exasperation. "Fine, I'll go to the support group!"

"Group therapy," Pepper corrected with a smirk.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello! I got a lot of positive feedback after posting chapter one, so I hope that you enjoy this chapter just as much!**

* * *

Tony left while it was still dark out. The sun hadn't even breached the horizon before he had slipped out of the tower lobby and into one of his more nondescript cars. He left the tower early in part to escape the early morning traffic, but mostly to escape the questions that would come from his early rising companions. He rarely left the tower, so he could only hope the other Avengers didn't freak out and try to send S.H.E.I.L.D on a mass man hunt. He'd had enough of that when he was 12.

He pushed his keys into the ignition, turning them to start up the engine. He could feel the thrum of the engine beneath his seat, but he didn't move yet. His eyes were bothering him, watering and itching uncomfortably. He pulled down the sun visor and flipped open the flap that covered the small mirror inside it. He leaned closer, peering into his eyes to see what the problem was. He noted right away that his contacts where off. In his hurry that morning he'd probably put them in wrong. Letting out a short hiss of irritation between his teeth, he carefully reached up to his eyes to fix the brown tinted plastic. For a moment, he was able to glimpse the sea green beneath, but quickly adjusted the contacts so that the color was once again hidden.

Sighing, he leaned back in his seat and reached out to grip the steering wheel. Checking to make sure he had space,the man pulled into the street and towards Long Island, eyes now glued to the road.

(**)

Tony was feeling hot and irritated by the time he reached the lone road to camp. The august sun was beaming through the clear glass, and even though he had the air conditioner blasting cold air, it was still doing little to make a dent in the suffocating heat. He sagged against the seat in obvious relief as he sighted the familiar golden hide of the Golden Fleece.

Turning one corner he got a full glimpse of Half-Blood Hill, the scaly hide of Peleus glinting obviously on top, even from so far away. He parked at the end of the green hill, idling there for a moment as he stared at the trees. This would be his first time back at camp in several years. A strange feeling -a pain- settled over his chest, like someone was squeezing his heart. But it felt like a good pain. It felt like he was returning home.

"Well, to Hades with all this." He muttered. He pulled out the keys out, yanked off his seat belt, and exited the car. He looked around for a moment -instincts urging him to check for monsters that he knew weren't there- while pulling out his sunglasses from his pocket and twisting his expression into his signature look of superior disinterest.

He made his way up the hill with his hands in his suit pocket, continuing to look around at his surroundings. As he reached the crest of the hill he glanced over to Peleus. The dragon had been a lot smaller last he'd seen him, body wrapped around the trunk of the old pine tree. He had once been able to see the entirety of the golden fleece over his scaled back, but now he could only a sliver of the shinning, curled, pelt.

Tony, feeling no fear, reached over to pat the dragons hide. Smoke curling from his nostrils, the dragon swept his head around to look at the demigod. Sleepy liquid eyes blinked at him languidly. The mythical beast made no move to attack Tony, and instead rested his head on the ground that had long since become baren dirt from years hidden away from the sun. His side rose and fell in a deep sigh. "Tired, huh bud?" Tony said with a chuckle. He let his hand fall to his side. "Me too."

He left the dragon to his slumber and turned his sights out over the camp. It was larger than he last remembered. The original Omega formation of cabins was now bordered on either side by new buildings. The dinning pavilion and Amphitheater had also been enlarged to make room for the larger number of demigods. Looking to the left, Tony's gaze rested on the Big House, and he was pleased to see it looked the same as ever.

Swallowing thickly, and blinking behind his shades Tony pulled back the feeling of regret that was threatening to overwhelm him. It had been his decision to leave this place behind all those years ago, and he would not let regret at the decision -so long buried- return now.

"Well, call me a Telkhines uncle!" Tony looked down in surprise at the sudden exclamation that had broken him from his reverie, and was surprised to see no other than Leo Valdez looking up at him, flashing him an impish smile. "I didn't think I'd see you here until Dionysus' retirement!"

Tony smiled brightly at his friend and half slid, half walked down the hill to bury him in a bone crushing hug. He hadn't realized until he had his arms wrapped around the Latino demigod, just how much he'd missed his friends. The letters he received from them almost daily wasn't at all like having them there in person.

"Whoa!" Leo said with a surprised laugh, though he returned the hug with equal amounts of enthusiasm. "It's nice to see you too." He and Tony stepped back, Tony's hand resting on his friends shoulder for a second more. "You're looking good," The shorter man said with what seemed to be approval. "I'd hate to be the last of the seven to be unbearably attractive."

"Oh, yes," Tony agreed with a serious expression. "That would be such an terrible burden for you to shoulder." His hands slipped into his pocket. "What are you still doing here Leo?" He asked, changing the subject. "I thought you'd be at Camp Jupiter with Cecil and Calyspo."

Leo shrugged and a ran a hand through his curly black hair. "I was going to, but things popped up here at camp. Calypso actually had to go and fix something over in Japan, so Cecil's staying with Uncle Jason and Aunt Piper in New Rome until things get sorted."

"Sorry to hear that. How are Piper and Jason doing?" Tony inquired. He began walking down the hill, and Leo followed after him.

"Good!" He replied cheerfully. His hands reached into the tool-belt around his waist, pulling out a few bits of wires. Even now, Leo couldn't keep his ADHD under control. "They Iris Messaged me a few nights ago. Gonna be pissed that they couldn't see the great Jackson return. Oh! They had an ultrasound and found out the baby's going to be a girl,"

"Really?"Tony asked, delighted in the news. "I'll have to send them a letter then." Leo glanced over at Percy as they reached the base of the hill, eyes flashing. Eve though he didn't say anything, Tony knew that his friend wanted him to go to New Rome in person. " I'm guessing you're not here to catch up and talk about that kind of stuff." The son of Hephaestus said instead.

Tony sighed. "No, unfortunately not." He reached up and took of his sunglasses, rubbing his eye with the palm of his free hand. "Pepper wanted me to come here for some...group therapy I think she called it. Said she didn't want me locked up in my room today again." Tony's voice was light and teasing as he said that, but his eyes were dark.

Leo sighed sadly, eyes downcast. "I'm sorry." He said softly, turning to Tony with downcast eyes. "We miss her, all of us. We wish things could be different. But she's not forgotten. The camp still remembers her; we've made sure that everyone knows her name. She wont be forgotten."

Tony looked away, unable to reply. His gaze darted to the lake. There, he could make out the forms of campers, laughing and screaming as they jumped and swam in the crystalline waters. The bright sun made it shine and glint with brightly. The reflective light was so harsh, that even with his shades he had to look away eventually. It was a happy sight, and he couldn't bear it anyways.

"Yeah," Tony finally said in reply, looking down at his shoes instead of meeting his friends sympathetic gaze. He inhaled deeply and looked back up, flashing the son of Hephaestus a thin lipped smile that wouldn't fool anyone. "Could you uh," He coughed. "Perhaps tell me where said group therapy is taking place, exactly?" Once again changing the subject to something he could bear. Or, at least slightly tolerate.

Sensing Tony's discomfort, Leo obliged. "Up at the Big House. Mellie's in charge of it."

Tony's eyes lit up at the mention of the sweet cloud nymph. "Oh, really? How's she and Coach doing?" The two started their walk to the Big House, continuing to chat pleasantly.

"They're doing good. Chuck is growing up nice. Says he and his brother are gonna be the greatest keepers ever," He once again resumed fiddling around with the pieces of machinery in his hands. "Hazel and Frank are doing good too. Frank's still Preater of New Rome and Hazel is helping with taking care of the equines at the camp. I'm still trying to convince Frank to turn into a horse and run around new Rome for their anniversary," Leo pouted. "But he said that wouldn't be appropriate for a Praetor."

Tony nodded. "Unfortunately, I've got to agree. But I'm happy for them," He said with a small smile. And in all honesty it was true. They were living their lives without the burden of a prophecy over their head, something he had longed for since he was thirteen years old. But the other part of him was jealous of his friends. Of how easy it was for them to move on with their lives after he had lost such a huge part of his. To continue on with a family, a home, and a job in the world of mythology while he had cast himself away into the mortal one.

It wasn't fair to think that of his friends. He had been the one to keep himself out of Camp, not anyone else. He could have come back if he wanted to.

But it wouldn't have felt right to come back, knowing that she would never be there to see him again. To laugh, and smile, and tease. Because there was no way for Camp to truly be home without her.

"So hows life as an Avenger?" Leo inquired. Tony bit back a sigh of frustration. That was a question he had been hoping to avoid during his visit, but he had known that it had been inevitable.

"Pretty good," He answered. His dark brown eyes were trained ahead, watching as the blue building grew larger as they got closer. "We had a tendency to but heads a lot, when we were first starting out, but I guess we're getting along better now." Tony shrugged, hands in his suit pockets. The fingers of his right hand brushed against the cold form of Riptide and he gripped it in his hands.

"No troubles keeping them in the dark?" Leo ventured.

"I'm not keeping them in the dark about anything." Tony said with pursed lips. "They never ask, so I've never told."

"You don't feel bad about any of it?"

Tony shook his head. "There's nothing to feel bad about."

They had finally reached the steps of the Big House. The wrap around porch was abandoned, and the chairs around the pinochle board sat empty too. Tony looked over the house, eyes drifting to look at the Attic window. He could see it in his minds eye; all those dusty relics of ancient heroes past. Maybe, once he'd passed, something of his would be left up there to collect dust and be forgotten.

"You should stop by the arena." Leo spoke, unaware of interrupting Tony's somewhat morbid thoughts. "Say hi to Mrs, O'Leary. Maybe show a few moves to The Percy Jackson fanclub."

Tony pulled a face. "I have a fanclub?" He asked, running a hand through his jet black hair.

"Oh yes," Leo confirmed. His lips twitched into a mischievous smile. "They idolize you. I might just give them tip them off that the great Percy Jackson is in Camp, right at this very moment."

Tony reached up and took off his sunglasses, eyes narrowed as he stared down at his friend in mock anger. "Don't you dare."


	3. Chapter 3

**Hi guys, thank you so, so much for your encouraging words. I really appreciate them, and I'm so happy that you all seem to be enjoying it. I'm also very, very sorry that it took so long for me to update but school has been a lot more stressful and time consuming then I thought it would be, and I've had to focus on the musical I'm in and it's just been a lot.**

 **I also want to let you know that I might not be able to update for a while again after this. I'll try, I really will, but things also aren't going so great at home, and I feel really cruddy all the time and writing is just not on my list of things to do.**

 **Again, really sorry.**

* * *

Despite all the change that had occurred to the camp, Dionysus' god awful taste in decoration had remained untouched. Which was sadly relieving to Tony. It was good to see that, despite how much time had passed, some things would stay the same. As Tony walked farther into the Blue House, he looked around in search of others. He could hear voices, and he followed the faint chatter towards the room that had been used to discuss issues with cabin leaders. As he entered the room, he saw that the source of the voices were a bunch of demigods clustered around the ping pong table with Millie the cloud nymph sitting serenely at the head.

Tony -still wearing his shades- stood still in the doorway to examine everyone there. His steps had been quiet, so no one had yet noticed him silently standing in the doorway which left him free to analyze.

The dark haired man didn't recognize many of the kids chattering. Only two did he recognize and seeing them swept him up in a mixture of feelings. Travis Stoll and Clarisse La Rue sat on opposite sides of the table. They hadn't been the closest of friends when Tony had left camp so many years ago and he wasn't surprised to see that that hadn't changed.

Deciding now would be a great time to step in, he cleared his throat rather loudly, not caring what he was interrupting. Naturally, a few people jumped at the sudden noise and all eyes turned to look at the man in the doorway.

Some people recognized him right away as Tony Stark (not many knew of his true identity as Percy Jackson) and it was obvious by the looks on their faces that they were confused as to what a mortal superhero was suddenly doing in the middle of a support group meeting. But Travis and Clarisse recognized him right away and though they didn't exactly smile and jump up to meet him, they did nod their heads to him in silent greeting.

Dipping his head back to them slightly, he plastered a cocky and blinding white smile on his face. "Sorry I'm late." He said as he went to take a seat. There was a few empty chairs around, and he plopped down between two dumbstruck teenagers who were looking at him with varying looks of shock. "Got caught up with a friend. Nice to see you Millie, you're looking well."

Despite having interrupted, the easy going cloud nymph didn't seem too bothered about it and smiled at Tony. "It's good to see you decided to join us."

Tony shrugged and leaned back in his seat, arms crossed and an eyebrow raised. "Didn't have much of a choice. Pepper wouldn't take no for an answer." Tony turned to Travis on his left. "Good to see you again," he commented. "You too Clarisse." He said as he turned to the daughter of Ares. He noted how changed they seemed when he really looked at them.

Clarisse looked tired. Her shoulders were stooped and the bags under her eyes indicated that she wasn't getting a lot of sleep. Her hair and eyes were dull, and her rumpled and stained clothes betrayed that she lacked the perseverance to care for herself.

Travis didn't have any bags under his eyes, but he looked like he wanted to go to sleep. His clothes hung off his skinny frame. It looked like he hadn't been eating in a while, and his dull eyes stood out like a drop of blood on a white canvas. His mischievous smile was no where to be seen.

And though Tony didn't know many of the kids around, he noted how they all shared the same tired look, or how they were all too skinny or too unkempt to be considered healthy. His smile felt strained now, looking around at all the sad eyes and taut faces. His own smile faded entirely and he was glad he hadn't taken off his shades. He was sure his eyes would have betrayed him and shown all the guilt he was feeling.

"Right," Millie said as the silence dragged on. She turned to a young girl two seats away from Tony. "April, you were saying?"

April tore her eyes away from Tony, though she didn't seem to want to. Her pale cheeks flushed in embarrassment as she spoke and she ducked her head, thin blond hair covering her face. "I keep seeing them." She confessed to the silent forms around her. "Everywhere I go, they're there. The monsters. And I know they aren't, but whenever something moves or I see a shadow I get scared, and my heart starts racing and I just-" Her voice broke off and the other girl next to her patted her hand comfortingly. April swallowed and continued, fingers curling to grip her jeans. "I've gotten kicked out of school because I attacked a kid when he scared me. My mom doesn't know what to do," April rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand. "I just want them to go away."

"Does your mom tell the schools about you when she signs you up?" Millie asked gently. April shook her head. "Start with that. Schools are all too eager to pass kids with Dyslexia and ADHD off as trouble makers, and if you attack someone they'll be happy you proved them right and kick you out. But if you try and let them know what's really going on, that may help some."

April shrugged, obviously not convinced and Tony found himself agreeing with the girls doubt. He'd been kicked out of multiple schools for his Dyslexia and ADHD. He couldn't find it possible that the schools would have mercy on anyone because of a mental illness. Heck, they might not even let her in at all knowing that she had PTSD.

Thinking about that got his mind working. There had to be something he could do.

His mind was drifting and he was no longer paying attention to what was going on around him. He wasn't even paying attention to the time and was surprised when the sudden scraping of chairs on the floor jolted him from his thoughts. He jumped in his seat, startled, and looked around. People were leaving, drifting away and chatting silently to himself. Guilt gripped the genius tightly as he realized he hadn't been paying attention to what was going on. An hour had slipped by and he hadn't heard anything except that one girls story.

That feeling was quickly swept away as he noticed Millie standing by the door, quietly chatting with a teen boy. Tony practically vaulted from his seat when the boy left. He rushed over to Millie and the nymph looked at him in surprise he stood in front of her. Without giving her a moment to talk, he immediately launched into a question that had been burning in his mind. "Has anyone thought of building a school here?" He asked.

The nymph didn't seem surprised by the question at all. "Yes," she said with a sigh. "Chiron mentioned it a few years ago, but we haven't been able to."

"Why?" Tony asked. "Camp Jupiter has a college in New Rome, surely we could have a school here."

Millie shook her head. "It's not as simple as that, and you know it." She said sadly. "How are we going to pay for the materials? Whose going to teach the classes? There's just too much, and we don't- "

Tony didn't give her a chance to finish. "How have you been able to build all the new cabins then?" He asked. He was beginning to get angry; he wanted young demigods to be able to get an education without having to face the horrors of a mortal school like he had had to. And now he was being told that it had already been considered and nothing had been done?

Millie either didn't notice his growing frustration, or didn't care because she sighed again, and continued to explain the situation like she had a million times before. "Because, that's when the gods were funding it. But you know how they are. They stopped a few years ago, and we could barely finish the cabins we had started. And no one wants to ask them for help again."

Tony frowned. "What if I founded it?" He asked without even thinking. When he finally registered the words, he blinked in surprise. How had he not thought of that before? Despite years of having endless wealth at his fingers, he still often thought of his time living in an apartment with smelly Gabe, and how little he had had then. He often forgot just how lucky he had become, and how he had so much must lying around.

"Yeah," He said, beginning to grow excited. "I could fund the building of the school, and the paychecks of teachers. I'm sure there are some demigods out in the mortal world who are teachers. If we find them we could offer them a job at the school, I'm sure they would love it."

His excitement seemed contagious as a big smile had spread across Millie's face. "That would be fantastic!" She exclaimed. "Oh this is perfect Percy, I can't thank you enough!"

Tony was too excited to bother reprimanding Millie about the use of his old name. Instead, he continued speaking excitedly. "I'll have to speak to Chiron, but I think it'll be good."

"Yes of course!" Millie said. "He's this way, come on!" She grabbed his hand and began pulling him out of the room.


End file.
